All Expenses Paid
by RussianKat
Summary: A routine trip to the Tracy Industry building takes a turn for the worse for two of the Tracy brothers, will the others be able to get there in time? - Sequel to Meteorite, but doesn't need to be read for this to make sense - Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Usual Disclaimer – I used to own Thunderbirds, but I left the paper work on top of a paper shredder and have no idea what happened to it…

But ENJOY!

Chapter 1

It had been six months since the meteorite had crashed into Thunderbird 5 and Tracy Island was back to normal; as were Virgil and Scotts hair colours. The two brothers had held true to their promise to get revenge on the trouble making Gordon, resulting in the second youngest Tracy refusing to go out in public for almost a month much to the amusement of the rest of the inhabitants of the Island. John had just returned from the first stint on his bird since the accident, whilst Alan had gone up for his first rotation with Gordon accompanying him. So all was well with the Tracy family: for now.

It was two days into Johns' month at home when his father came to him with the proposition, _would he like an all-expenses paid trip to the mainland? _John was not untrusting as a rule, but still, something about the question felt wrong from the moment it passed his father's lips. As he considered the offer he noticed Virgil chuckling quietly in the kitchen. John eyed his father, trying to seek the authenticity in the request when it hit him.

"You wouldn't happen to need someone to pop into Tracy Industries would you Dad? You know to dot the i's and cross the t's would you?" John asked, knowing the answer.

The Tracy patriarch winced at this, he had known this plan was less that likely to succeed but he had hoped it wouldn't have failed quite so quickly. "Well, that would be helpful. If you could?"

John was trying as hard as he could not to laugh now, he had already decided to accept the offer, but it was always fun to mess with their ever composed father. "Well, I was hoping to catch the meteor shower tomorrow night" he said with an exaggerated sigh, then slowly looked up at his father with the saddest puppy dog eyes he could muster.

_Damn, _Jeff thought, he never could say no to any of his sons when they pulled that expression. "Well, I guess Virgil could go instead" he said, with an obvious hint of guilt in his voice.

Virgil stopped laughing when he heard this and started scowling at his older brother, daring him to continue with the charade. This destroyed Johns' composure and he was soon struggling to catch breath as he was laughing too hard to recognise normal respiratory functions.

Once he had finally caught his breath, he looked up to see his bewildered father and a seething Virgil. He quickly schooled his expression back to one of a serious nature and said, as dead pan as possible "Well, I guess Virgil does need to get off the island for a while, I mean, it might even do him good".

As the final word left his lips he jumped from the sofa, as within a matter of seconds Virgil had launched himself at John and landed head first into the surprisingly solid sofa. After Virgil had regained enough of his senses to realise what had happened, he went on pursuit of his annoyingly intelligent brother.

*break*

Later that day both John and Virgil were on their way to the mainland. Their father had soon decided after their little scuffle that a small trip together would do both brothers some good. Virgil disagreed with this, but admitted that it would be nice to spend some time with John whilst he was on earth for the next few weeks.

When they arrived in New York it was pouring with rain and almost midnight. Rather than 'light up the town' as Scott had suggested in the multitude of messages he had sent his siblings on the trip there, they agreed to head to the Tracy penthouse and make the most of take-out food and the terrible monster movies which they would no doubt find on one of the hundreds of channels available to them.

*break*

When Virgil awoke the next morning the rain had changed to hail and showed no signs of stopping, and the white light forcing itself into the room made it uncomfortably bright for the recently awoken musician. Slowly he pulled himself out of the cosy cocoon he had made himself and stumbled to the kitchen.

John had been up considerably longer than Virgil, wanting to take full advantage of the 72 inch television in the lounge along with the copious games consoles. He may be a genius, but he was a genius on holiday.

So once John had tired of computer games and both brothers had enjoyed a late brunch they decided to finally bite the bullet and go to Tracy Industry's. It wasn't much of a walk and in all honesty barely any work, but it was always a chore. With people falling over themselves to help them, offering them coffee at every corner and repeatedly mentioning what a 'nice guy' Jeff Tracy was. It was tiring, hence the man himself getting his sons to go in his place. For Virgil it didn't help that Steph on the front desk just didn't seem to understand the word no.

*break*

The moment they walked through the Tracy Industry doors, it was everything that they feared, and Virgil couldn't stop the scowl that appeared on his face as Steph immediately latched on to him and started explaining in torturous detail everything that had happened since he had last visited. Despite trying to figure out how he could sedate the girl without causing suspicion, he noticed John smirking as he led the way to the elevator, _he hated his family sometimes._

As expected the work itself passed quickly and only two hours later were close to leaving, and Virgil was even closer to finding a cupboard to lock Steph the human limpet in. As they made their way out of the main office and towards the elevator a loud crash sounded beneath them.

As the fire alarm began to sound and the people around them began to run towards the stair well the brothers studied their surroundings carefully. _If _there was a fire in the Tracy Industry building the sprinklers would be working by now. _And if _there were some type of seismic activity their father would have contacted them already. _So _what the hell was going on?

Making their way towards the main stairwell they saw the elevator doors slowly open stopping them in their tracks.

The Hood.

Now it made sense… sort of…

*break*

End of Chapter 1

And… cliffhanger …


	2. Chapter 2

Hiya Folks!

Sorry about the delay, writers block and all that jazz… but now the creative juices are flowing once more, the next update shouldn't (hopefully) take too long.

Usual Disclaimer, I own nothing – thanks to that darn paper shredder

But enjoy!

**Chapter 2**

The alarm resounded through the offices as the Hood's henchmen made their way out of the elevator and began pushing people towards the centre of the room. But neither of the Tracy brothers were touched. Just left standing a few feet away from the open elevator watching the chaos ensue.

"Hello boys" the Hood said, giving them a bitter smile. Turning towards the largest of the thugs he spoke again "Grab them, tie them up and make them a picture for Daddy".

As three of the goons came towards them Virgil experienced the most spontaneous moment of his life. He grabbed Johns collar, and despite his brothers protests, dragged and threw him into the empty elevator before hitting the down button and watching the doors close his brother in.

But as the triumphant smile spread across his face, another larger hand grabbed his collar and pulled him with a strangled cry toward the crowd in the middle of the room. As he stumbled towards the group of terrified clerks and managers, another shove sent him to the floor. A kick to the ribs kept him there. Then as he looked up, the last thing he saw before he was bathed in blackness, was four of the thugs trying to wrench open the elevator door.

***break***

Scott was confused, his watch had beeped at least twenty times in the past two minutes but every time he went to answer he was met with static and what sounded like an alarm. However before he had a chance to ponder this, he found himself in the cockpit of Thunderbird 1 heading to Bulgaria to help with the aftermath of an earthquake, pushing all thoughts of the alarm to the back of his mind.

***break***

John pounded on the elevator door. The electricity had cut out half way through his journey to ground floor and now he was stuck. He knew it was only a matter of time before the Hoods men found their way to him.

Leaning against the back wall of the small cubicle, he screamed in frustration. _What the hell had inspired Virgil to do something so stupid!? _The moment he had been thrown through the doors he had assumed it was one of the Hoods' henchmen dragging him, until he saw his brother hitting the 'Close Door' button.

Yes, he would have done the same for any of his brothers. And yes it was heroic. And yes it was a typical Tracy thing to do. But this was _the Hood. _Did Virgil not realise that a) annoying him was not wise and b) John would rather know what was going on then be locked safely in an elevator. Then he heard it. The unmistakable hiss of a blow torch. _Well, this was just getting better and better._

***break***

Virgil studied his surroundings with difficulty. The high backed chair they had tied him too did not give him much capacity to move his head, but what he could see was not exactly good. Mr Jeffries, the office manager, was currently out cold on the floor. Steph was clutching to the leg of a table, tears rolling down her face, as she choked on her sobs making a sound like an ill goat.

He had been trying to discretely reach his watch to send a message back to the island but it appeared the guards surrounding him were unwilling to divert their attention to any of the other occupants of the room. He could only hope John was on his way to get help. But the pounding sounds he had heard earlier from the elevator gave him an uncomfortable twinge, what if he had just pushed his brother into a dangling prison cell?

Turning his gaze towards the Hood, Virgil couldn't help but wonder what on earth was going on? The man had done nothing but look across the city since he had had the building locked off. _But surely this was part of something bigger? _Virgil thought, it couldn't be just to scare the hell out of a few office workers and hold himself and his brother for a sizable ransom. That was too small for the Hood.

It _had_ to be something _bigger_.

***break***

Scott looked down at his watch lying on the kitchen counter. It was still beeping, as it had been for the past two hours. The alarm had stopped about twenty minutes after the beeping began, but it didn't make the incessant noise any less annoying – or confusing.

Sighing, he grabbed the watch and headed towards Brain's office, hoping he would have an answer.

***break***

John knew the watch was useless.

He had helped his father and the Architect design the building. The elevator shaft was lead lined, with magnetic dampners every ten metres down to prevent any kind of mechanic terrorism on the building. It was a brilliant idea at the time. Now it may be the difference between being rescued and being used for whatever the Hood was planning.

He could now see the crimson outline the blowtorch through the metal door. They were almost through, probably another centimetre and they would be through. Ten minutes. It wasn't long enough to escape the elevator, which now he thought about it, was what he should have been doing from the second his brother threw him in there.

Ten minutes.

He looked down at his watch, well now it was nine minutes. Then he had an idea.

***break***

Scott had almost dozed off when his father's voice startled him back alert. As he opened his eyes he saw his looking unsettlingly worried. "What's going on?" he asked, as the older man led him to the control room.

"Well, M-M-Master Tracy. It appears the beeping was a d-d-d-d, call for help" Brains said from the work station, the watch and a variety of electrical equipment laid out in front of him.

"What?!" Scott questioned as he made his way across the room, his father close behind "Who is it?"

"John", Scott stared at his father, silently asking him to clarify what he had just said "Scott, John was signalling for help".

Scott stared at his father, ignoring Brains as he explained how he was now tracking the signal to locate Johns position. Jeff just gave his eldest son a heavy pat on the shoulder and took his seat on the sofa nearest the control panel. Scott just stood in silence letting it sink in, before finally taking the seat next to his father and letting his head fall into his hands.

Neither of the Tracys sitting on the sofa expected Brains to say what he said next though. "According to the trace, he's on the S-S-S, Thunderbird 5"

**ANNNNNNNNNNND Cliffhanger**

**RussianKat**


	3. Chapter 3

And here's part three…enjoy!...but remember don't trust people just because they offer candy…money on the other hand is fine…as is Batman memorabilia…unless it involves George Clooney

Same disclaimer, I own nothing except the clothes on my back, the laptop in front of me and a reasonable portion of cheesecake in my neighbour's fridge

Breakbreakbreakbreakbreak SCENE… hehehehe, couldn't resist – no offence meant

Chapter 3

The Hood frowned. He could see a commotion in the building opposite. The business men and coffee boys had disappeared; instead there were badly hidden SQUAT team members behind each window. Now normally this would not have bothered him, but, and he hated to admit this, he was running behind schedule, and it was a little early for this escapade to go public.

Gordon had just thrown a toaster at Alan, and to say he had no regrets was an understatement. He would do it again. Repeatedly. Preferably with better aim.

When Gordon had first been told he would be spending a month with his younger brother he had been relatively enthusiastic about the idea. He had seen it as a perfect chance to plan new pranks, hunt for Johns' secret chocolate stash and most importantly to find out what was really going on with Tintin.

But ever since they had docked onto the satellite, the blonde had been nothing but a pest. He had done nothing except whinge, and then ask inane questions, then whinge some more; and now, the cherry on the cake, the jam in the doughnut, the toy in the box of cereal - he had broken the toaster.

Now to many a person this may seem like a trivial matter. But they had two food options open to them, at least until they found the chocolate stash, and these were a delicious variety of toastable delights or high energy, high protein, high fibre protein bars which tasted akin to sea water mixed with cardboard. So you can understand his frustration when the toaster, the answer to their prayers, had met its untimely demise at the hands of Alan Tracy.

Alan was cowering behind the control panel, trying to ignore the smouldering pile of toaster behind him, knowing that may soon be his fate. So it was with joyous relief when he noticed that his brother was no longer approaching him with murderous intent. Instead he was sat at the tele-coms answering an incoming transmission.

It wasn't until Gordon started grumbling and hitting the panel that Alan decided to come out of hiding and give him a hand. "What's going on?" he asked.

"Someone is trying to contact us but…" he smacked the panel again "it won't connect".

Alan looked at the readouts coming onto the screen. The signal was coming in loud and clear, but there was something odd about it. Gently pushing his brother's hands out of the way Alan began entering codes into the console until he finally got the screen he needed. Rather than multiple codes, which would have appeared had it been an unknown source, a single code appeared; MCTB5JGT.

This was unexpected.

"Why is John trying to contact us?" Alan turned to his equally bewildered looking brother.

John groaned as he was dragged up another set of stairs. The thugs not caring a thing for their guests discomfort continued to haul him up until they reached the necessary door.

The first thing John saw as he was thrown through the door and into the office was his brothers look of utter dread, and he couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

Virgils brain short circuited as he saw his brother thrown through the door at his feet, the only thought running through his head being _why the hell hasn't Steph shut up yet? _It wasn't until he was pulled out of his chair that his brain began functioning normally again.

He felt his bonds loosen until they were gone. Looking around he noticed the Hood approaching them, the smug self-satisfied grin back in place. "Well boys, now that everyone's ready I think it's time for a little field trip".

With that said he began to walk towards the door John had just been tossed through. Before either brother could complain, both were grabbed and had damp cloths forced over their mouths. They fought to stay awake, but as the inevitable pull of sleep grasped them, the last thing each saw was the terror in the others' eyes.

Jeff smiled as his two youngest sons faces filled up the screen. In all honesty he was surprised they hadn't murdered each other yet. If he had been asked with a gun to his head he would have had to admit he had put them together in Thunderbird 5 mainly to see whether they could survive undiluted exposure to each other.

He was slightly disappointed with the results.

"Err, Dad?" it was Gordons voice that brought Jeff out of his daydream "we've been receiving a signal for the past few hours from John. Has he contacted you?"

"From John?" Jeff said, confused as to why his second oldest would be contacting them.

"Yeah! The signal has been coming in for like four hours… but it won't let us answer it, it's like… well… I don't know" Alan said, hoping that his father may have a reason, and be able to loosen the knots that had formed in his stomach since they had discovered the source of the call.

Before Jeff had a chance to come up with a feasible answer, Scott came running through the office door bringing a familiar ringtone with him. When he saw his father at the control panel he thrust the ringing phone into his hand.

"Hello, Jeff Tracy speaking… yeah?... No I hadn't been informed… what?... What do you mean? Hostage Situation?"

By the time Jeff arrived on the scene the reporters were already stationed and the building had been evacuated. Avoiding the gaze of the reporters, he made his way to the entry of Tracy Industries and past the security guards.

The foyer was empty apart from a few reporters and a girl sobbing her heart out behind the reception desk. Approaching slowly, he recognized her as Merediths' maternity replacement, Stacy or something along those lines. "Mr Tracy?" she choked, staring at the older man.

"Hey" _well, this was awkward _"Stacy isn't it?"

"Steph actually…but…" a fresh wave of tears and hacking broke off her sentence.

"It's okay, it's okay. What's wrong?" Jeff said, pushing the girls bleach blonde bangs out of her face.

"It's my fault." She gave a painful sounding sniff "I told them. I told them they would be here." Jeff stared at the hysterical girl, waiting for her to finish "I am so sorry. He took them…and I don't know why and…I swear I didn't mean to." With that she fell back into uncontrollable sobs, but this time Jeff wasn't quite so keen to calm her down.

So leaving the distraught girl in the capable hands of one of the security guards, Jeff made his way to the stair case, calling Scott as he ascended to his sons last known whereabouts.

End of Chapter 3

…technically… not a cliff hanger…


	4. Chapter 4

All Expenses Paid

Hey folks! Here's the next segment, of course I apologise for the delay but I do hope you enjoy this instalment!

And as usual I own nothing…this is even being typed on stolen goods… - unless you work in law enforcement, in which case it isn't and errr…I just made this awkward… ENJOY!

* * *

Chapter 4

Scott looked over the catastrophe which had once been an office. To say there had been a scuffle was an understatement. He had seen the elevator on the way up to the offices; it had the majority of the electronic panelling spilled across the floor and a smoking hole where a blowtorch had been used to gain access.

Sighing in frustration he kicked one of the many metal bins across the room taking grim satisfaction in the way it crashed into the nearest desk. He had read the overly detailed police report, right before they had sneaked it to the nearest reporter. He kicked out again, this time his foot meeting the solid desk leg beside the dented bin. The pain wasn't sharp as he had hoped for though. It was numbing. _Perhaps if he kicked harder? _

As he drew his foot back again though a hand grasped his shoulder, followed by a low chuckle.

* * *

Virgil had thrown up six times in the past fifteen minutes. He was surprised he had anything left in him to go for number seven, but that came and went, he must have been into double digits by now. He forced his pounding head up from the floor to look across the room towards his comatose brother.

They weren't shackled.

But Virgil made no move towards John. Since waking up almost twenty minutes ago the only movement he had found himself capable of during this time was a small roll onto his other side and that had caused his head to spin and stomach to protest violently. He clenched his eyes shut as another wave of nausea washed over him. When he reopened them, John was no longer in his corner.

* * *

Jeff chuckled softly as he grabbed Scotts' shoulder, fully aware of where the eldest Tracy son was about imbed his foot into. After all he had just done the same thing, except he had used his hand and a 'No Smoking' sign rather than his foot and the desk.

Scott looked up shocked and ready for a fight, only to see his father smirking at him. Normally he would have followed this up with a swift rebuke and a laugh. Normally he would have forgotten about it within ten seconds. Normally…he could count on Virgil and John laughing in the background at his momentary lapse of concentration and rational thinking. This was not normal.

_Man, he wanted to kick something._

Jeff saw the cloud lift from his sons' eyes for a moment only to be replaced by a darker one. Sighing, he clapped Scott on the shoulder and made his way deeper into the office, looking for something, anything the police may have missed. As he searched he didn't miss the hard 'thump' of shoe meeting desk, or the choked cough his son gave as he made his way to the opposite side of the office. He did however miss the crushed International Rescue communicator under one of the many over turned chairs.

* * *

Virgil got in one good kick before his assailant had him pinned to the floor.

"Have you quite finished Virgy?" John chuckled hoarsely, still keeping his brothers arms locked to the floor.

Virgil groaned, and not purely out of discomfort. _John would never let him live this down. _He felt his older brother release his wrists and slowly made his way vertical. Leaning heavily against the wall, he watched as John dragged a stool across from the other side of the room, dropping it at his feet and gesturing for him to sit. He didn't protest.

"Why are you fine?" Virgil grumbled as he tried to take in surroundings.

Chuckling John responded "Well I hate to disappoint you Virge but you never were very good at holding your drink and by the looks of it, chloroform is the same story". Looking over to Virgil, John couldn't help but laugh harder at the seasick expression on his brothers' face "What's up Virge? Don't like my company?"

Virgil couldn't help but smile "I forgot how damn chirpy you could be".

* * *

Gordon was going crazy. They knew _nothing. _They had been told _nothing. _And now Alan had taken to throwing a tennis ball against hull wall. He looked down at his half eaten protein bar, _man he missed that toaster._

He heard the ball rebound back into Alans' hands. All he needed was one small message from the Island. Anything. It would be better than nothing. Even if it was bad news he needed to know. He threw his head back, banging it against the wall.

The noise threw Alan off his rhythm causing his routine of throw, bounce, catch to falter. Rather than throw, bounce, catch it went throw, bounce, opposite direction – and it made Gordon smile. Because it made something click. That click quickly led to almost a full explanation.

He knew what John had been doing.

* * *

John launched his body at the iron door again, ignoring the throbbing pain radiating all up his right side. He shot a glance at his brother softly snoring on the stool whilst leaned against the wall. He had brushed the vomiting and head ache off as the younger Tracy being a light weight, but the way he was breathing suggested something else. _Maybe he's allergic to chloroform _he thought _after all Gordons allergic to penicillin. _Another raspy cough left Virgil before the darker haired Tracy shuffled back on the stool forcing himself into a tight knot.

Tearing his eyes away John began to look for other ways out of the windowless room. The only other piece of furniture in the room was a coffee table, which had definitely seen better days. He approached the table trying to see it from different angles, desperate for inspiration. Then it hit him.

He knelt next to the table, grabbed the closest leg and pulled it hard. The leg did not detach. The table did however make a pathetic creak of protest. So taking this as his cue, he promptly jumped on the table.

* * *

Scott looked at the elevator once more, something didn't add up. _Why would they break in with a blow torch? _He thought, ghosting his fingers over the recently melted metal _Why not use the override button? _He stepped further into the elevator careful not to stand on any of the sparking wires littering the floor, that was another question, _Who on earth had been in there?_

The button panel had been completely obliterated, judging by the dry red stains along the edges of the panel and various bits which had been torn from it, the dismantling had be completed predominantly by hand and not very carefully. As he studied the floor he saw something he recognised.

It was a wrist strap with a small computer panel in the middle, the front of which had also been removed to leave the circuitry bare. Shaking, he knelt down and picked up the front of the panel, knowing what he would see. It was a titanium casing, with only three letters distinguishing it from scrap metal.

The letters - J G T

End of Chapter

I hope someone read this and I do sincerely apologise for the delay I just really wasn't feeling the story for a while…but I now have the ending all figured out…kind of. So no more ridiculous delays!

Russiankat


	5. Chapter 5

All Expenses Paid

Okay I apologise….again….for the dumb delay. In all honesty I have no feasible excuse for it therefore I must inform you I was held hostage by a team of evil raccoons who denied me access to a computer until I signed over the ownership of the cheesecake I had in my neighbours fridge….man I'm gonna miss that cheesecake.

Anywho…here is the much delayed update…based upon characters from Thunderbirds which unfortunately I still do not own…damn raccoons….

* * *

Chapter 5

John had been standing next to the door for almost an hour, waiting for someone to enter the small room, one of the coffee table legs held tightly in his hand. Whilst listening for movement outside the room he kept an eye on Virgil who had been drifting in and out of consciousness for the past twenty minutes or so.

As he saw his brother sway dangerously close to falling off the stool and catch himself just in time to avoid meeting the cold floor, he heard footsteps outside the room. Forcing himself closer to the exposed concrete wall he listened as the lock opened and the door slowly swung open. He held his breath. He saw two large shadows enter the room. He could feel his heart hammering in his chest. One of the shadows moved towards where Virgil was sat.

He slowly raised the table leg and kicked the door exposing him to the two guards.

* * *

They had arrived back at the island over four hours ago. But neither Scott nor Jeff had spoken a word to each other since Jeff had told them they were leaving the offices. Upon landing Jeff had gone straight to Brains with what remained of Johns' communicator, whilst Scott had headed to the control panel to update Gordon and Alan on the lack of progress.

Now Jeff was sitting on the balcony over the pool with a double scotch in his hand - his third in an hour. He had put his phone on silent shortly after returning to the island, ignoring the various calls from reporters who had been slipped his number by soon to be unemployed managers.

He heard it vibrate on the table next to him. He gave it glance, surprised to see Lady P appear on the screen. He didn't answer it. Probably just to say how sad she was to hear what had happened he thought as he drained the glass. He knew he had to speak with Scott, reassure him, be a father.

He poured another glass.

* * *

Scott watched his father staring into nothingness. He was angry. But not at the man trying to drink himself numb whilst watching the sunset. He was angry that he hadn't realised something was wrong the moment his watch had started beeping at him that morning. It was his fault, if he had followed his instinct…but he hadn't. He looked back towards the sunset.

* * *

The first day Alan had boarded Thunderbird 5 with Gordon he had spent ten minutes staring in awe at the Earth beneath them. Now as he watched the blue planet it seemed different, less homely. He knew it was dusk back on the island, and those on the island were being graced with one of the most miraculous sunsets of the year right now.

He could hear Gordon yelling at the control panel. Ever since Scott had sent the communication Gordon had been focussed on the panel. He wished he had something to focus on.

He kept staring out the viewer. He didn't know how long he stood there, seeing nothing except the speck he thought to be the island. His shallow concentration was broken by a triumphant yell from the control panel and his brother grabbing him into a bone crushing hug.

* * *

Virgil didn't know what was happening. He could see John in the corner holding what appeared to be a table leg or club of some sort. _Man he wanted to go to sleep. Maybe if he rested his eyes for a few seconds…_

* * *

John threw himself at the closest guard, swiftly bringing the table leg down on his head. The effect was instantaneous. The guards knees crumpled and he dropped to the floor. Wasting no time John rolled across the floor and pulled himself into a crouching position.

As regained his breath he kept a keen eye on the other guard now approaching him. The man was about two inches taller and a foot wider than him. He could see the table leg in his peripheral vision on the other side of the room. He didn't stand a chance.

* * *

Gordon continued to laugh as Alan tried to recover from the hug he had just been attacked with. "Gordon, what the freakin' hell?" Alan yelled at his still hysterical brother. Gordon just stared at his younger brother, his face resembling that of a child at Christmas. "Is this about the toaster?"

This just set Gordon into a new fit of laughter. Finally composing himself, he picked himself up off the floor and stood directly in front of Alan. "I know what happened!" he declared, then grabbed Alan by the wrist and dragged him over to the control panel. He tapped a few buttons on the console and then gestured towards the screen as though it were about to reveal the meaning of life.

Alan looked carefully at the console, still confused as to his brothers' sudden glee. Then he saw it. A small blip on the screen, "What the hell…?" he muttered, carefully adjusting the screen. It was a digital planet map, normally used to locate the Thunderbrids during rescues. There were four stationary markers in the middle of the pacific ocean and one other.

The extra marker was located on the east coast of America. Its' light pulsing occasionally but considerably weaker than those on the other side of the map. "I don't get it…all the Thunderbirds are accounted for on the Island" Alan said, turning questioningly toward his sibling.

"Exactly! Which means something else is transmitting to us" Gordon clapped his hands and then pulled Alan into a hug akin to a head lock "And whoever's transmitting knows the exact frequency this bird picks up! So little brother, here's the million dollar question, who on earth could possible know such a top secret yet absurdly obscure piece of information about our tincan in space?"

Alans' face remained blank for a few moments longer. Then, suddenly "Holy crap…!"

* * *

Scott lay in his bed staring at the ceiling. He had heard his father stumble to bed almost an hour ago. He couldn't stop his brain. It was in overdrive. Carefully analysing every movement, every decision, every seemingly insignificant thing he had done that day. It kept jumping to the same conclusion – _he should have done something. _

He sat up and punched his pillow until it was no longer flat. He could hear his father's guttural snoring in the next room. He didn't lie down again; instead he got out of bed and made his way to the kitchen. He wasn't thirsty and was pretty certain that even if he were to eat anything he wouldn't be able to keep it down. So he just sat at the counter and watched tap drip, hoping that it may ease him of his guilt.

* * *

Brains hadn't left the lab in over twelve hours. He was under no obligation to stay and if he were honest with himself, a short break may be what he needed to solve this conundrum. But he wouldn't leave. He owed it to them to figure it out.

The analyses of Johns' communicator had taken almost five hours, but there was something missing from the device, and despite his efforts Brains just couldn't begin to fathom what it was.

He had approached it from every angle both literally and figuratively and yet it still managed to elude him. He had put it back together and taken it apart on more than one occasion. He had even managed to get it working again, with everything functioning, well everything except the digital clock.

He looked back to the row of clocks on the wall; it was almost 2am according to one of the clocks, the others all being set to other time zones across the world. That was the real core to what was making Brains stay until he figured it out, the fact the clock on Johns watch still wasn't working. It was definitely not the most high tech part of the device without question. All it did was use tell the time; admittedly by bouncing a signal off Thunderbird 5 and locating itself within the required time zone to do so, but that was relatively simple in comparison to some of the gadgets Brains had made over the years.

He ran a frustrated hand over his face and what remained of his hair. _He needed a coffee. _Slowly he made his way to the kitchen. _He could think better after a coffee _he thought to himself.

* * *

End of Chapter 5

Have you figured it out?

50 Awesome points to anyone who has! I do have to point out though that there is no prize in exchange for Awesome points…only glory…eternal glory

RussianKat


	6. Chapter 6

Heya Folks! Happy to say this update is substantially quicker than the last one!

As always I don't own the Thunderbirds – but man would I love to own Lex Shrapnels abs. However thanks to an EPIC day at comic con, I do now own a pretty bitchin' Thunderbirds Comic signed by Gerry Anderson….I'm so HAPPY!

But as always enjoy!

* * *

All Expenses Paid

Chapter 6

Brains stumbled into the kitchen, struggling to keep his eyes open. There was only one light on above the sink causing elongated shadows to stretch across the room and the figure sitting at the counter. Scott had his back turned to the scientist, but Brains' could tell from the tension in the shoulders that he was still awake.

Saying nothing, he passed by the other man and made his way to the coffee machine, flicking on the main light on his way. As he made his coffee he could see Scott's reflection in the coffee machine.

_He had to say something._

He kept stirring his coffee, taking extra care in not letting it spill over the edge. He could hear Scott's soft breathing behind him. Had he not seen the mans' tired eyes and tense posture as he had entered the kitchen he would have thought he was asleep. But he knew that if he were to turn around he would see the eldest of the Tracy brothers staring at him, waiting for him to leave.

_He wanted to say something._

When he did turn around he didn't see a pair of tired eyes staring at him. Instead Scott had his head down, eyes boring into the table. He looked…tired, in every way possible. The cup quietly came in contact with the table as Brains sat opposite Scott.

They sat in silence whilst Brains started and finished his coffee. Scott had yet to raise his head or even acknowledge Brains presence. He could see the first signs of dawn through the glass panelling behind Scott's still form. Pulling himself out of the chair Brains began to wash out his cup, keeping an eye on Scott with the aid of the coffee machine. He saw the blurry reflection raised its' head and turn in his direction. Then, as though struck, the reflection turned back and lifted its' fist only to let it drop quietly back onto the table.

"There's n-n-n-nothing we could have done" he stuttered as he turned to look at Scott, who was looking at him like a lost child "It couldn't b-b-b-b, have been stopped". Scott gave a slight nod before rising from his spot. As he headed out of the kitchen he stopped at the doorway and turned to Brains.

"You know…Virge is gonna kill you if you don't clean that coffee machine out". Brains gave a half smile and watched Scott leave the room.

* * *

John felt like he had been hit by a bus. Judging by Virgil's concerned gaze he can't have looked much better either. They were still in the same room they had been in when they had first awoken, except now they were shackled, and the remnants of the coffee table had been removed.

John could see Virgil on the other side of the room. He was more coherent than he had been since he had first regained consciousness, and had gone almost three hours without throwing up – but that may have had something to do with there being nothing left to throw up. Either way, he looked healthier, one less thing to worry about.

"So…any ideas how to pick a lock Virge?"

Virgil stared at him with something akin to amusement. "What Mr. Genius can't figure it out?"

"Well, I like to stay the right side of the law" John stated, then added "Unlike you Mr. 'Indecent Exposure at age eighteen'".

Throwing his head back against the wall Virgil gave a low groan "I am going to kill Gordon when we get out of this." He looked back at his brother who was chuckling with small wheezy breaths "But now you mention it Johnny, I think I have an idea."

* * *

Jeff had been watching Scott for close to half an hour, glad to see his son sleeping for the first time in twenty-four hours. His head was still swirling after the bottle of whiskey he had downed the day before, but he felt better. He looked back to Scott. He had three sons safe and sound. He had one of the world's top scientists on his side. But most importantly he was going to get John and Virgil back.

And The Hood was going to pay.

* * *

Virgil had almost got the shackles off, _just a little to the left, _and he had the second one off. He had never been more thankful for forcing himself to wear metal collar stiffners that morning, as they worked as perfect lock picks, when used effectively.

Rubbing his now red wrists he made his way across to John and set about removing his shackles as well, which took substantially less time as he could both see what he was doing and use both hands. Once both brothers were free Virgil help pull John into a standing position and lean him against the wall careful not to jostle his bruised ribs. "Virge I've said it before, and I'll deny it again – you're amazing" John said, clapping Virgil on the shoulder.

Rolling his eyes Virgil stepped away from his brother and faced the door "I may be amazing, but I hope to hell you have an idea on how to get out that door".

* * *

The alarms were blaring through Tracy Island, and this is what Scott awoke to. As he rushed through the corridors and into the Control room the alarms cut out as he saw his father and Brains sitting at the panel. He made his way over to the two men and watched over their shoulders at the grainy picture on the monitor. "What's going on Alan?" Jeff said, straight into commander mode. That was when Scott noticed something, his brothers were smiling.

Gordon pushed Alan off screen "We know where John and Virge are!"

"How?! Where?" Jeff asked now entirely focussed on the screen in front of him.

"We don't know how exactly but a signal appeared on the LTM with the same frequency as those of our trackers" Alan explained, whilst picking himself up off the floor and back into the monitor. "So we checked it, and it is identical to Thunderbird 5's"

Gordon forced his way into the centre of the screen again "Which led me to believe that Johnny boy was even more freakin' intelligent than we already thought."

"Of c-c-course!" Brains stuttered excitedly "The p-part of the communicator that was missing was the tr-tr-transmitter. He m-m-must have boosted the signal somehow and managed to bounce it off Thu-thu-thu-the Satellite ship and back to him."

"Brains" Jeff turned to the scientist, smiling for the first time in twenty four hours "Set up a wireless link from the LTM to the readout screen in Thunderbird 1"

"Yes Mr Tracy" Brains said before hurrying out of the room.

"Scott, prepare Thunderbird 1 for lift off" Scott gave a small salute and then also left the control room "Alan, Gordon…damn good work. Hang tight and I will update you as soon as possible."

Still smiling the youngest of the Tracys' turned to their father "F.A.B Dad."

* * *

Virgil was impressed "I can't believe you used an idea from Pirates of the Carribean" he looked towards his smug looking brother "and it worked."

"Virge I have said it before, and I will say it again – never underestimate the power of 'Half Barrel Hinges'. Admittedly would have worked better had a bench, but hey, who need shoulders anyway" John said, clearly satisfied with himself "But as smart as it is, it still ain't the quietest form of escape so what do you say we get our asses the hell out of here?"

Virgil readily agreed to this idea and they soon found themselves in the corridor leading away from their cell. It was an old building with peeling wall paper and creaky floor boards, with a lingering smell of damp decay in the background.

They made their way through as quietly as possible until they reached a set of stairs. They could hear voices at the top. Voices which seemed to be getting closer. John turned to Virgil, out of ideas. Then they heard another set of voices, this time coming from the corridor they had just left. There was nowhere to hide. No doors, no alcoves, nothing.

With one last glance at each other they threw themselves up the stairs, two at a time. When they reached the top they found themselves at a t-junction of sorts. The left turning leading to a group of thugs, and the right leading to a possible exit.

Without thinking they headed right, conscious of the sound of pounding feet following them. They quickly came to two stair cases, one ascending the other descending. It only took a moment for them to both start heading down, but the moment was enough to stop them.

As they came to the foot of the stairs a force pulled them back and turned them around. They watched as the Hood motioned for four of his men to approach them, before releasing his hold on the brothers.

"You are being very rude guests boys" the Hood said, moving so that he was standing directly in front of his captives "You are also slowing down my plan, which unfortunately means I have to down size" he gave a small nod to one of the remaining guards and began to walk away "Goodbye Mr Tracy, I'll make sure your brother is well looked after".

Suddenly Virgil felt himself being pulled away, unable to do anything as he watched the bullet tear through his brother and sending him cascading down the stairs.

End of Chapter Six

* * *

I just made this awkward….

Ciao!

RussianKat


	7. Chapter 7

Heya! Here's the latest update, I figured it would have to be a quicker than some have been after how I ended the last one…..

But the usual disclaimer 'I own nothing, and I AM NOT A NUMBER I AM A FREE MAN!' and I hope you all enjoy….

All Expenses Paid

* * *

Chapter 7

The Tracy Industries building looked just as unwelcoming as it had done yesterday to Jeff Tracy, but it was exactly where the signal had led them, give or take a hundred feet. He looked to Scott who walking around tapping into his PDA trying to triangulate the signal and get an exact location. He was glad his son had something to occupy his mind again, but he could still tell something was troubling him. "Damn it!" Jeff saw Scott yell as he threw the PDA across the street, smashing it to pieces.

Jeff said nothing as he approached his son, waiting for an explanation. "It can't locate them; the magnetic dampner in the elevator shaft has a longer reach than we thought. It's probably also the reason we've never been send or receive faxes from this place" he ran a hand through his already ruffled hair "Damn John and his bloody fool proof system!" He kicked one of the shards from the PDA further across the street in frustration.

"Okay" Jeff said, calm "Let's work with what we got; what do we know?"

Scott look across at his father "They're not in the Tracy building, it's been checked like fifty times."

"Right, but they are within what? A hundred feet?" Jeff asked, turning slowly, taking in the surroundings.

"Yeah, give or take" Scott replied looking at the two buildings on either side of the building "Which means unless the Hood decided to take them to the park opposite, they're in one of those."

"Let's search the old bank first, I doubt the Hood would use a department store as a hideout" Jeff began walking towards the closed bank.

"Wait, wouldn't it be quicker for us to search one each? We don't know how mu-" Scott was cut off.

"No. We don't split up, I'm not taking any unnecessary risks" he began walking again "We stick together Scott."

* * *

Virgil was numb. He had been thrown back in the cell almost an hour ago, but it could have been seconds for all he knew. John was gone. That was all he knew. His big brother was _gone, _and he was on his own.

* * *

The bank was a mess of construction equipment and rubble. It had been out of business for almost a decade, but was scheduled to re-open that year, as a _private _bank. The last time Jeff had seen it was almost two years prior when he offered the contract for the new security system, he had accepted, after all the owner _was_ an old friend.

They made their way through the main foyer, their footsteps echoing off the vaulted ceiling. All the doorways were blocked off with builders tape and rubble they would have to clamber over. "You're the boss, which way Dad?"

Jeff had been working on the blue prints for this building for almost three months he knew it had a basement, a sub-basement, the floor they were one, two above and the rood. The question was though, if he were a maniac with an axe to grind where would he keep his hostages. "This way" Jeff said walking towards the door to the basement.

* * *

The Hood stirred his tea as he looked over the blueprints in front of him. His plan was going well. Not quite as originally planned, but then again he hadn't expected to have to kidnap two of them in the first place. He looked up to his guard sitting on the opposite side of the room "How are our guests doing Shaun?"

The guard gave a non-commital shrug "Virgence or whatever his name is hasn't moved since we put him back."

"And our departing guest?" a smirk slowly slid onto the Hood's face.

"Can't tell. Camera quality ain't great boss, but I think he may have moved slightly five minutes ago but he ain't gonna last long enough to get rescued. Me and the boys have a wager on when he's gonna kick it." Shaun chuckled as he took another glance at the CCTV monitor showing the motionless form of John Tracy.

* * *

Jeff and Scott made their way down the stair case and found themselves in a corridor which was in drastic need some care and attention. Ignoring the other set of stairs they made their way down the corridor. There were no doors as the made their way through just steadily worsening wall paper and damp patches.

They quickly reached another set of stairs, also heading down. "I don't like this Dad" Scott said, eyes flicking around the corridor "I think we should go back."

Jeff looked at his son then back to the stair case, _they could be so close. _"I'll go down, you stay here and shout if you hear anything,"

"What?! No! You were the one who said we should stick together Dad! I am not letting you go down there!" Scott growled at his father, trying not to yell.

"I am not having you get caught as well Scott!" Jeff brought himself closer to Scott, close enough to hear his breathing "I am going to go down there, you are going to stay here until I say so" Scott opened his mouth to retort, but was immediately cut off by Jeff "I am in charge of this operation Scott, do you understand?"

"Yes sir," Scott took a step back from his father and gave a nod, turning to look out the window.

"Scott" he turned back to his father "Trust me" and with that Jeff vanished down the staircase.

* * *

The corridors down stairs were in an even worse state of repair than those upstairs and Jeff couldn't help but notice the steadily worsening stench of damp coming through the walls. There were no doors as he made his way through until he reached the corner where he was met with a brick wall and two doors.

He could hear voices behind one of the doors, and pressed himself against it trying to distinguish the voices. It seemed to be a very one sided conversation, in fact it may have been a telephone conversation now he thought about it. Rather than voices it was a singular voice, which seemed to be getting more irritated as time passed.

He pressed himself closer to the door, wanting hear exactly what was being said. He was so focussed on this though he didn't hear the second door open.

* * *

Shaun looked across to the Hood who was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed. He hated this job. It was long hours of doing nothing. But the reward, well, the reward was six zeroes on the end of his lucky number. It was worth it.

He flicked his attention back to the CCTV monitors. Nothing had changed; the Tracy boy was still leaning against a wall in his cell looking sad, there was no one outside the building, and the other one was still…_oh crap. _"Sir!"

The Hood slowly opened his eyes. "Yes Shaun?"

"The guy you shot, he's gone" Shaun blurted out.

"Well I did shoot him almost an hour ago Shaun, I'm surprised he survived this long" the Hood replied a smile on his lips.

"No Sir, he's gone. As in _gone! _He isn't at the bottom of the stairs anymore."

This got the Hood's attention "Ah, so it seems we may have had some uninvited visitors. Let's go greet them shall we?"

* * *

Scott was antsy. He didn't like leaving his father to do the scouting out of the lower levels. They were Tracy's, they didn't do solo missions. He couldn't hear anything down the stairs and knowing how stubborn his father was he wouldn't call for help even if he needed it.

He looked back out the window, it had started raining, giving the already depressing landscape a grey glow. The rain pattered loudly against the glass, but not loudly enough to cover up the sound of shuffling footsteps approaching from the direction he and his father had come from. There was nowhere for him to hide, but he got the feeling he didn't have to.

The footsteps were slow and uneven, hardly that of a well-trained guard. He cautiously began to walk towards the footsteps. As he got closer he could hear ragged breathing and the occasional groan. As he turned the corner he gave a yelp of surprise as his brother fell into his arms.

* * *

Virgil knew something was going on outside. He had heard raised voices and a few dull thumps before his cell door shook as though something heavy had been thrown into it. He looked up to his guard who looked equally confused.

A swift knock on the door echoed through the room. "Jase, we have company mate. Open up" a voice sounded behind the door.

The guard, Jase, opened the door. In walked another guard, even larger than Jase, who gave Virgil a dirty smile as he turned to watch the rest of his party enter the room. The first of the pair fell into the centre of the room, arms wrapped tightly around his midsection. The second was the Hood.

Virgil looked back to the man on the floor. He had thought when he saw John tumble from sight down the stairs, eyes closed in agony, that things couldn't get any worse. Now though, now that he was looking at his father struggling to breathe on the floor in front of him, he realised things may get worse sooner rather than later.

End of Chapter 7

I legitimately have nothing to say here….other than the next chapter is totally planned and well, I hope you guy will like it

Russiankat


	8. Chapter 8

Hey peeps! Here is the newest update, in case anyone was worried, I will NEVER abandon an unfinished story, there may be delays, but I promise I would never stop before it's finished!

As always I don't own the Thunderbirds, but I am saving up so in about *thinking* three thousand four hundred and eighty two years I should be able to afford it!

But Enjoy!

* * *

All Expenses Paid

Chapter 8

Scott held his brother close as he negotiated his way down the stairs and through the corridors. John was dead weight against him, and was clearly losing his battle with consciousness. There were no guards to be seen as they made their way through the building, and they were soon in the main foyer watching the rain hammer down through the glass doors.

Scott adjusted John on his shoulders as he took in his situation. His brother was dying. His other brother was missing. And his father was playing solo mission. He didn't know what to do. If he stayed here John would die and he may not even find his father and Virgil. But if he left with John to get help his father and Virgil may be killed. It was all down to him. And he was terrified.

* * *

Jeff clutched his ribs as he watched the Hood and his flunkies leave the room. He turned his attention to his son who was watching him with wide unbelieving eyes. "Dad?" he asked, his voice wavering.

"Hey Virge," Jeff gave a pained smile as he inspected his son. Virgil was a mess. His clothes were rumpled, his hair dishevelled and he looked as though he hadn't slept in a month. Along with the multitude of bruises and grime he didn't look like the son of a multi-billionaire.

Virgil was motionless for a moment before throwing himself as his father, gripping him as tight he could. Jeff brought an arm around his son as he slowly removed himself from his sons' tight embrace. "Hey, you're okay. Help's on the way." Jeff said, leaving his arm around his sons' shoulders, who promptly slumped into his fathers' side.

"It's not okay Dad," Virgil choked out, "John's dead." Jeff closed his eyes, and prayed that Scott was on his way.

* * *

Scott was headed in the opposite direction to his father though. He was sat in the back of an ambulance watching his brother flat line.

* * *

Gordon was going crazy. They had last had contact with Tracy Island almost three hours ago and had since been told nothing. Alan was back staring aimlessly through the window. The youngest Tracy had always been the calmest in these situations. Always the one to know the next step before it was taken and to have a good idea of the ones following.

Gordon was the impulsive one. He did it first and regretted it later. He wouldn't be able to stand and watch the earth spin slowly beneath him. He needed to be there, in the thick of it, aware of everything. No surprises.

He was about to call the Island again when Alan turned towards him "They'll tell us when they know Gordon."

"When they know what exactly Alan?" Gordon retorted. "When they know that they have no idea where John and Virge are? Or when they find out they're already dead? When exactly Alan?"

Alan clenched his jaw "When they are safe, and everything is back to normal."

"Oh good," Gordon threw on a quick smile "I was worried for a moment there! Oh gee whiz, how could I be so foolish! Of course they're gonna be okay, golly gosh Alan thank you so much." Alan stayed silent and looked at his feet "They could be hurt or dead or god knows right now Alan! Don't you want to know what's happening?"

Alan looked up at this point, his eyes fierce and glistening "I trust Dad. He will fix it and… Then it will be okay," he yelled, voice quaking towards the end.

Gordon began to leave the control centre, but before he left through the arch into the sleeping quarters he turned back to his brother, who looked like a child at the school gates whose parents hadn't remembered to pick him up "Then you're an idiot." And with that Gordon left his brother alone with his thoughts.

* * *

Brains' was getting anxious. Jeff had said he would make contact every hour on the hour. It was now three minutes past eleven. _It's only three minutes._ He kept telling himself, but soon three minutes turned into four and four into fifteen. He looked away from the clock, still aware of the ticking.

He didn't want to call Thunderbird 5. There was every chance everything was fine,_ or everything had fallen to hell. _He looked back to the clock, twenty-two minutes late. He looked back towards the monitor, the signal for Johns' tracker was still in the same place.

He needed direction, a clue as to what to do next. Something to say what was happening. He could see the rain crashing down through the panes of glass. It made him feel better. He wasn't alone in his chaos, the world was feeling it as well.

He could feel the storm in his mind intensifying. He needed a light to clear his judgement. He needed help. He hit the distress button.

* * *

Jeff could remember John's first word. It had been such a shock, to both him and Lucille. Scott hadn't started speaking until he was fourteen-months but John didn't wait that long. At eleven months he had sat with his parents and brother on a chequered picnic blanket and stared up at the sky. Giving small giggles and gurgles at every star his father pointed out to him and Scott. Then he had turned his head of blonde curls towards his father and smiled before saying "Stars," of course it hadn't been distinct and came with a small lisp. But it was there, his first word. Jeff had never been more proud.

The small word kept running through his head and he toyed with the material of the old jacket covering Virgil, who was dozing restlessly against him. The jacket was John's and was slightly too small for the musician. It was Johns' favourite.

He looked down at his sons face. Both Virgil and John looked alarmingly like their mother. But whereas John had her sharp eyes, blonde hair and melodic laugh, Virgil had her soft bone structure and below average sized ears. Virgil moved slightly in his sleep, clinging closer to his father and snuffling against his brothers' jacket.

Jeff ran a hand through his sons' hair, not surprised to find it slightly greasy against his fingertips, but it was still soft and warm. He didn't want to forget it. He didn't want to lose it as he had his wife, and now one of his sons' had been wrenched from him. Virgil moved again. He would get them out of this he vowed. He would fix this.

* * *

Scott was scared. He sat in the hospital waiting room watching doctors and nurses bustling about outside, not one of them with news for him. He hated them. Not for doing their job, but not letting him do his. He was meant to be with his brother, looking after him, keeping him safe. Instead he was in a cold, sterile waiting room and his brothers' life was in the hands of strangers.

* * *

Virgil awoke to warmth. His body was curled up against something warm and beneath what felt like a thin blanket. He opened his eyes to see his father staring at the concrete wall opposite. He could easily have closed his eyes again and slept, but he knew the look on his fathers' face.

It gave him hope. The man was steeling himself for battle, a battle he had already decided to win, regardless of the price. It was the look which had launched the Thunderbirds.

* * *

Alan was angry but he wasn't sure whether it was at Gordon or himself. He did believe that their Dad would fix this, but there was a niggling fear in the back of his mind. He wanted to blame Gordon for putting it there, but he couldn't.

If he were honest with himself it had been there ever since his first interaction with the Hood back at the bank of England. When the Hood had told him how his father had left him to die. He hadn't wanted to hear the words let alone accept them. But here he was believing in the shadow they threw across his mind.

He sat and scowled at the computer, now unable to focus on with his mind so clouded. He was terrified. He needed to know what was going on. The silence was killing him; he now knew why Gordon was so agitated. They were in the dark and anything could be happening. But just as he went to hit the call button for the island, a shrill alarm resounded in the spacecraft.

* * *

Gordon had been dozing when the alarm awoke him. As soon as his brain made the connection though he flew out of bed and ran into the control centre to see Alan panicking at the panel. The elder Tracy approached his brother and gently pushed him away from the controls.

Taking the control seat Gordon began opening the transmitting netways. After a few minutes of typing and the beginning of an overly aggressive headache the alarms stopped and Brains' appeared on the monitor. "Hey Brains, what you got for us?" Gordon asked, moving slightly away from the monitor so Alan could see.

"Everyone home and safe?" Alan questioned, his hopeful smile audible in his voice.

"I am af-f-f-fraid we lost contact thirty minutes ago," neither Gordon nor Alan said anything as Brains rambled on about plausible reasons behind the lack of communication. Gordon felt numb. Alan just took a step back and let the shadow envelope him.

End of Chapter 8

Can you see the horizon?

RussianKat


	9. Chapter 9

Next day update! Woooooh! I think this is the first time this has happened in the history of this story, so booyah!

I hope you enjoy, the usual disclaimer, I don't own it and personally I blame the locals. Not my locals, locals in general.

But here it is!

* * *

All Expenses Paid

Chapter 9

Virgil watched his father pace the small cell. He was surprised that the man could move so easily considering the beating his ribs had received earlier. The man was silent as he paced and hadn't looked at his son huddled under John's jacket once.

He had always been intrigued by the workings of his fathers' mind. The man was like a machine. Not in the sense he worked quickly, if anything the man could be incredibly slow, but he was methodical. He would choose an idea and weigh up every pro and every con. He would analyse every possible outcome, every potential downfall. But by the end his plan would be infallible.

Naturally this was only the case when the man had the time to go through each stage of testing the plan. Sometimes he was hot headed and ran straight ahead without any thought to the consequence, but sometimes that's what being a Tracy meant. Action before equations. And right now, Virgil couldn't think of a better time for action.

He kept watching his father pacing until he was struck by an idea; an idea which might just work.

* * *

Gordon was, for lack of a better word, panicking. His brother was unconscious on the floor and Brains had just disconnected the communication claiming to have had a brain wave. He knelt down next to his brother who was sprawled on the floor. _Why hadn't he paid attention in first aid training?_

Gordon clumsily moved Alan into the recovery position, unsure of what to do next. He wasn't the medic, that was Virgils' job. _But Virgil's not here. _He winced at that thought, Virgil wasn't there and that was what had put them in this predicament in the first place.

A soft moan from Alan snatched Gordon's attention. The blonde cautiously opened his eyes, the blue iris's only small slithers against the large pupils, giving the teenager a cartoonish look. "Gor..?" he muttered, closing his eyes against the bright lights trying to attack them.

"Hey kid," Gordon smiled "Why you scaring the crap outta me as well? Hey?"

Alan gave a weak chuckle, opening his eyes again, this time leaving them open to take in his surroundings, "Er, April Fool?"

"Yeah nice try, it's October squirt" Gordon laughed as he pulled his brother off the metal floor "Jeez Alan, as if we don't have enough to worry about without you collapsing on me."

At this Alan stopped smiling, allowing himself to drop into one of the metal chairs. "Seriously, Dad would scalp me if anything happened to you up here Squirt," Gordon joked, whilst shining a small pen light into his brothers' eyes. Alan hit the light out of Gordons' hand.

"Yeah, right." Alan scoffed "If we see him again that is."

Gordon stared at his brother who was now staring at his shoes as though they had offended him. "Alan, what the hell?" he whispered, still not sure he had heard his brother correctly.

Alan looked back at his shocked brother, slightly confused "You're the one who said I was stupid for believing he would fix all this." Gordon continued to stare "You were right Gordon, he's not perfect. Never was." Alan made to walk out the room but was roughly grabbed by Gordon and thrown back in the chair.

"Sit down and shut up!" he yelled, Alan pulled himself into a more comfortable position watching his furious brother "I shouldn't have said that Alan. And I am sorry for losing it. But don't you dare give up! Don't you dare," Gordon was half angry half pleading now "We don't know what is happening down there, but we have our guys, our family down there fixing it."

"But what if they don't?" Alan asked, his voice small.

"Don't think about that, and I mean come on! We've bounced back from worse!" Gordon placed his hand on his brothers' shoulder, angling him to look in his eyes "Jeff Tracy is down there Alan. Jeff freakin' Tracy, who started International Rescue and saves the world." Alan looked like he wanted to protest this but before he could Gordon started again "You're right he's not perfect. I mean we should know, we've put up with him since birth. But he is the closest thing to a hero we have right now."

Alan turned away from his brother, letting the words sink in and soon found himself forced into a rough hug. Finally letting the frown fall from his face, he returned the hug.

* * *

Brains' was shocked he hadn't thought of it earlier, it was so simple. Returning to his workstation he went back on to the communication software. He was not surprised that no one was online other than himself and Thunderbird 5, but that didn't mean he couldn't find the others.

If he were honest with himself, it was not really his idea; he was merely re-inventing Johns' idea with the tracking device, except he was doing it in reverse.

So remotely using the satellite relay station he sent up a signal, bounced it off Thunderbird 5 and let it search for the unique signatures of the International Rescue communicators. He watched with avid interest as the results slowly trickled in.

The first to become apparent was Scotts', which appeared to be the other side of the city, rather than at the Tracy Industry building as Brains' had expected. The other signals came in at the same time, one weak and the other as strong as Scotts'. The first was the one John had engineered and the other was Jeffs'.

The signals were on top of each other; _at least they found them _Brains thought.

* * *

Jeff was speechless. His son's plan was interesting, but it also sounded a lot like something from a movie he had been conned into watching by his sons once. "Come on Dad, what else can we do?" Virgil pleaded.

As Jeff agreed, he couldn't help but hear Lucille's voice in his ear, scolding him for giving into his sons' every whim.

* * *

Shaun was sat in front of the Hood. He was surprised at how well the man was taking the blonde guys disappearance. But maybe it was like he said; he only needed one and one was what he had, and now he had the head guy things couldn't be going better. So then why did he feel like he was about to have the carpet pulled from beneath his feet?

He watched the Hood meditate. The man seemed to do it a lot recently. Shaun had worked for him for almost three years, and had only seen him do it on the rare occasion. But recently, every time there was a spare moment, he was meditating.

But he knew better than to question his boss's habits. He remembered what had happened to Mullion. He looked back at the Hood's relaxed features. _Still, doesn't add up, _he thought, looking towards the CCTV monitors to see the two Tracy men huddled together on the ground. The uneasy feeling came back into his gut. He could see the older one was laying on the ground. He didn't dwell on this though, as it was then that the Hood awoke from his trance. Turning and smiling at Shaun "Go get them."

* * *

Virgil held his breath as the thug entered the cell. He knew this plan was a long shot, but it was better than nothing. He watched the large man's gaze scope across the room and finally land upon his father who was currently laying prone on the floor, once again clutching his ribs.

"What's wrong with him?" the man asked, giving Jeff a slight kick. Jeff recoiled with a moan of pain followed up by a series of steadily worsening coughs.

"I don't know," Virgil choked out, looking at his father with wide fearful eyes. The thug gave Virgil a cursory glance before approaching the man writhing on the floor. He knelt down above Jeff and pushed him onto his back from where he had been on his side. This caused Jeff to emit another round of wet coughs.

The man was so focussed on Jeff's apparent immediate need for medical attention he didn't hear Virgil slowly coming towards him from behind, clutching the broken table leg John had used earlier.

Jeff opened his eyes just in time to see his son bring the table leg down upon the thugs head. He didn't however roll away in time for the man not to collapse onto him, making him give a genuine groan of agony. His ribs may not have been broken but they were certainly bruised and having two hundred pounds of henchman falling on him was not doing them any favours.

The weight was readily removed though, and Jeff soon saw his sons' smiling face appear above the thug who rolled unceremoniously onto the cold concrete floor. He held a hand out for his father and pulled him onto his feet. Sharing a quick victorious smile Jeff started searching the unconscious form on the floor, whilst Virgil kept an eye out at the door.

* * *

Scott had lost count of the cups of awful hospital coffee he had got through in the past few hours. In all fairness he should have realised it wouldn't be great coffee as the machine was dented and looked as though it had been through the wars. Still he drank cup after cup, not wanting to miss anything.

He looked around the waiting room; there had been two families in there when he had first arrived but both had gone now and another had taken their place. One of the first families had tried talking with him, consoling him, but he hadn't listened. It didn't mean anything. The only thing Scott wanted to hear was that John was okay, and that hadn't happened yet. So he went on ignoring the world, and the insistent beeping of his wrist communicator.

End of Chapter 9

* * *

So things are….different….YAY!

Awesome points are on offer once more for anyone who can figure out _how _that coffee machine got dented in the first place.

RussianKat


	10. Chapter 10

Hey Folks

Afraid this update wasn't quite as quick as the last one but it still took less than a month….so not too shabby

Anywho you know the disclaimer, I am poor therefor own nothing

But enjoy! Oh and by the way, the reason the coffee machine was dented is because the hospital was too cheap to buy a new one after Gordon punched it in Meteorite, but congratulations to CBloom2 who was pretty darn close - kind of

* * *

All Expenses Paid

Chapter 10

Virgil kept his attention on the corridor as his father dealt with the unconscious thug. He realised he wasn't scared anymore. He was angry. He wanted to get out and make the Hood pay. The corridor was empty but he could hear voices in the distance. He looked back to see his father still searching the pockets of the unconscious man.

The voices were getting closer.

He gently closed the heavy door and made his way back over to his father. Jeff placed a few of the items he had found on the ground before helping Virgil pull the gargantuan man into the corner behind the now closed door.

Virgil looked down to the pile on the floor. Within was what appeared to be a taser, a metal pipe, a walkie talkie and few small lengths of plastic wire. Jeff picked up the taser and handed it to him before taking the other items for himself. "Ready?" Jeff asked. Virgil gave a small nod before taking his place on the floor huddled against his father, the taser hidden beneath his brothers' jacket.

Two more men entered the room, sending the door flying on its' hinges, automatically concealing the dormant form of their colleague. Both men turned towards the Tracy's on the floor, the taller of the two looked towards the other "Where the hell is Shaun? He was told to bring 'em to the boss."

The smaller, boulder like one gave a small shrug, clearly not bothered by his comrades disappearance "Who cares, let's take them. Shaun can deal with the wrath of the boss on 'is own," he then made his way towards Virgil, dragging him up by the scruff of his neck.

Virgil allowed himself to be pulled to the open door before revealing the taser. Quickly twisting his body and yanking his neck out of the thugs grasp he pointed the taser directly at the other man's torso and fired.

As he watched the man fall to his knees in a twitching mess the world seemed to slow down. He saw his father pull himself out of the other thugs grip before swinging the metal pipe into his aggressors head. It connected with a sickening crack and the man fell down, his body hitting the ground with a deafening crash. The room was still.

Jeff surveyed the damage; he looked to Virgil who was still watching the man beneath him twitch as the electric current pulsed through his body. Pulling himself back to his senses he grabbed Virgil and together they left the cell, making sure to close the door behind them.

* * *

Scott had finally dozed off. But he was restless as he slept, plagued by images of John falling bloody and broken into his arms dragging him back into consciousness. It was just as he was dozing again that the doctor he had been waiting for finally entered the waiting room.

The doctor gave a soft cough as he approached the slumbering man, causing Scott to jump from his relaxed position and land in a heap on the ground. Looking up he saw the doctor trying to cover a smirk as he helped him up. However as Scott came eye level with the him, the doctors' expression became grave. "How is he?" Scott asked, hoping the expression was merely a professional quirk and not a forewarning of what was to come.

"He got through the surgery with no complications," Scott gave a sigh of relief "But he lost a lot of blood before he got here. He needs blood."

"But this is a hospital; surely you have blood stored right?" Scott asked, the relief suddenly feeling like a distant memory.

"You're brother has a very rare blood type, he is AB negative. Less than 1% of the human population have this particular blood type."

Scott looked up at this "My dad, he has the same blood type as John. I can get him here, how long do we have?"

The doctor looked down at the chart in his hands "We can keep him stable for twenty four hours. After that it would be touch and go." He gave Scott a sympathetic look before adding "I'll leave you to contact your father, just ask the nurses' station to page me when he arrives." With that the doctor left the room.

* * *

Brains nearly fell off his chair when he heard the communication transmitter start beeping. Pushing his work out of the way he opened the communication channel but was surprised to see Scotts face on the other side. "Hey Brains," Scotts voice crackled through the speakers.

"Master Sc-sc-sc-sc Tracy, what's happening?" Brain asked, fiddling with various buttons to attempt to improve the clarity of the audio.

"I'm at the hospital. I can't contact Dad, what's going on Brains?" Scott asked, his voice now quieter but clearer through the speakers.

"We lost contact with your father almost six hours ago. We are trying to re-establish the communication connection but are having little lu-lu-lu progress," Brains explained.

"Damnit," Scott muttered, turning his head away from the screen for a few moments, turning back he looked into the monitor for a second "Brains, I need you to contact Dad. Use anything, email, instant messaging. Hell you can use Morse code if you like, but he needs to get to the New York Community Hospital as soon as possible." Scott commanded.

"Yes sir," Brains said, an idea slowly igniting in the back of his mind "Master Scott, may I enquire as to the situation at the hospital?"

Scott closed his eyes, then with a sigh "I found John when me and Dad got separated. He's hurt. It's bad Brains, just get Dad here."

"F.A.B Scott," Brains closed the channel. The idea was now steadily burning, and he knew it would work.

* * *

Gordon was sat opposite Alan playing 'Go Fish'. It was still tense but it was slowly dissipating. Gordon looked down at the cards in his hand, he hated 'Go Fish' but it was either this or trying to fix the toaster again, and he didn't much feel like being electrocuted today. It didn't help that Alan was the master of this game, but anything to pass the time.

Just as Alan was taking the final steps towards his victory the monitor began beeping, alerting them to an incoming communication. As Alan went to answer it, Gordon to the opportunity to put all the cards back in the deck, he was not about to be destroyed by his baby brother at 'Go Fish'.

He relaxed back into his chair, quite pleased with himself, until he saw Alan ushering him over to the monitor looking confused. "What's wrong Al?" he asked as he made his way across.

"Brains needs us to close all the communication channels so he can try something." Alan explained, still looking at the computer like a foreign language. Gordon, though also confused, took a seat next to Alan and began typing in the necessary codes to close down the communications on the satellite.

* * *

Jeff and Virgil were slowly but surely making their way through the building and towards the exit and had yet to see any guards. They had just entered the corridor with the double staircase. Virgil stopped. He felt like he had been punched. He could still see John falling backwards down the stairs. He could feel his fathers' eyes on him, questioning his lack of movement. "We've got to get John," he whispered before running forward and down the stairs he had seen his brother tumble down.

Jeff followed immediately behind his son, slightly perplexed by his actions. However, when he reached the base of the stairs, he understood. There was an almost dry pool of blood. Jeff felt sick. "He's gone," Virgil said. Jeff just nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

Both men stood there in silence, watching the stain on the floor. Neither acknowledged the beeping jacket. "Give that here," he said, carefully removing the jacket from his sons' grip, not that Virgil noticed.

He listened carefully to the sequence of beeps, allowing it to repeat itself twice before extracting his attention. "Come on, we've got to get out of here Virge," he said, pulling Virgil by the arm.

Virgil followed with clumsy steps, his mind still with his brother. It wasn't until they were in the foyer that he really noticed the change in environment and pulled himself from his fathers' grip. "Where are going Dad?"

"We've got to get to the hospital" Jeff explained, then looked at his son again and realised he hadn't heard the message Brains' had sent "Virgil, John's not dead," he said, a smile splitting his face.

This got Virgils' attention and his head shot up fast enough to give him whiplash. "But I saw him, they shot him," he rambled.

Jeff placed a calming hand on his sons shoulder and gave him a small smile "Scott found him and took him straight to hospital," he saw belief slowly seep into his sons eyes "But he's not out of the woods yet, he needs blood so we've got to get to the hospital now okay?" Virgil gave a swift nod and followed his father through the foyer and out of the building.

As they took their first breath of fresh air Jeff spoke again "And as soon as we are finished at the hospital we're going to buy Brains a cake. A really big one."

* * *

End of Chapter 10

Man I wish I had a cake right now…

RussianKat


	11. Chapter 11

All Expenses Paid

*crawls out from under rock* hey folks, HIBERNATION SEASON IS OVER! Yay….okay I'm sorry it took so darn long but here it is, the update! Not the end yet, I still got a few tricks up my sleeves, and most of them are legal! So BONUS!

Here it is though, as always I own nothing…seriously, there are parts of me in Canada

Enjoy

* * *

Chapter 11

Scott watched his brother. He watched as the sheets covering him moved gently with every breath forced into his lungs by the respirator. He knew there couldn't be any improvement, not until his father arrived, but he kept watching. Just in case.

It had been almost two hours since the message had been sent, and he was starting to get worried.

* * *

Jeff had under estimated how long it would take him and Virgil to get to the hospital, but with Virgil and himself being injured it had taken almost an hour. When they did finally reach the hospital both were exhausted and stumbled through the emergency room door panting for breath.

Brushing off the concerned nurses and attendants they made their way to the nurse's station. "We're here for John Tracy?" Jeff said, holding himself up on the desk.

The nurse stared at the two men, both of whom looked as though they may need a hospital bed themselves. "Okay…let me just check the computer" she said and began typing away at her computer. As she looked through the computer she threw a few glances at the two men in front of her. The younger one looked as though he hadn't eaten in days and could do with a good scrub. Whereas the older one looked like he had a few rounds with Godzilla and lost. "Ah, here we are, fourth floor room 417," she said with a smile. Jeff and Virgil ran from the desk, Virgil shouting thank you behind him as they entered the elevator.

As they stood alone in the elevator Virgil turned to his father and gave a small smile. "Dad," he said, grabbing his fathers' attention "Thanks. For saving us."

Jeff too broke out in smile at this, and then pulled Virgil into a hug as the doors pinged open, then grasping his sons shoulders "Now let's go find your brothers."

* * *

Scott had started pacing again. The repetitive beeping of the life support machine was driving him crazy, it was like an angry accusation with every shrill beep. He should have made his father stay with him, he should have stopped him walking away from him, and then maybe John would be okay.

He was standing at the end of John's bed when the door flew open. Scott just stood and gawped as his father and brother appeared in the room both panting for breath and looking more than a little worse for wear. Scotts' brain went into overload. _They were here._

It wasn't until he saw Virgil kneeling next to John that he began to function again. Turning to his father who was still standing at the door, staring at John with wide eyes, Scott gave a soft cough gaining the older mans' attention "He needs blood, the hospital it uh, it doesn't," Jeff cut him off.

"I know. Take Virgil to get checked up, I'm going to the nurses' station." Jeff ordered, he then approached Virgil pulling him softly from his brothers side and placed a hand on Johns shoulder. After a moment he removed the hand, gave Virgil another quick pat on the back before giving Scott a quick nod and leaving the room.

The room was still. Virgil stayed where his father had pulled him, clearly the adrenaline had run out and exhaustion and his injuries were catching up with him. "Come on let's get you to a doctor before you fall down" Scott said, smiling softly at his brother. Nodding Virgil turned towards his brother and allowed himself to be led from the room and towards the emergency room again.

* * *

"What do you thinks happening?" Gordon asked as he Alan sat in front of the observation window. They had heard almost nothing since they had been told to transmit the message, except that the message had been received and they would be updated when necessary.

Alan turned to Gordon, eyes weary "No idea, but no news is good news right?"

Gordon quickly averted his eyes at that "Yeah," he said "Of course, they would tell us if something was wrong." Even as the words left his lips Gordon found himself internally scoffing at them. _If _something bad had happened they would find out after the event. Then they would be expected to accept it and move on. Gordon focussed on the floor beneath his feet; at least he knew what was happening there.

Both brothers could feel the change in the atmosphere. There was no longer the excitement of finding their missing family, they knew where they were. They just wanted to know which ones had made it.

* * *

Nurses had been buzzing in and out of Johns' room for the past two hours. Jeff had watched as they set up the blood bag, and had only half listened when they insisted that he get some rest after seeing the doctor himself.

The sun was finally setting by the time Virgil returned, now bandaged where necessary and limping. "Hey, how's he doing?" Virgil asked, taking a seat beside his father.

"Better, they said he should wake up either tonight or tomorrow hopefully." Jeff said turning to his son "Where's Scott?" he asked, noticing his eldest missing.

"I thought he came back here whilst I was with the doctor. You haven't seen him?" Virgil asked, rather bewildered by his brothers absence.

Jeff stood up "No. He didn't" he said scowling to himself before leaving the room.

* * *

The hospital canteen was teeming with expectant fathers, bored children and exhausted medical staff. Scott had been fiddling with his empty coffee cup for the past hour just trying to put off going back to Johns' room. He didn't know why he was so reluctant.

Sighing, he leaned back in the plastic chair. He _was _worried about John, _and _Virgil. But he felt like he was intruding when they were in there together. They didn't need him getting in the way. He continued to stare at his cup. The setting sun was still peeking through the window at him and could feel a little of its warmth on his exposed hands.

His lips twitched into a small smile as he looked out of the window watching the crimson sky get darker. He remained watching until a rough voice pulled him from his reverie "Scott!" his father called across the canteen, making his way towards his son.

Getting to his feet Scott walked to meet his father. However when he got close to him Jeff grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the canteen. Slightly stunned Scott allowed himself to be dragged out of the canteen and into an empty hospital room. "Dad, what the hell?" he asked, confused as to his fathers' actions.

"What do you think you're doing Scott?" Jeff growled at him, anger clear on his face. Scott stood there shocked by the outburst. "We just got your brothers back and _you _think it's a good time to wander off!"

"What? No, I just needed to" Scott started but Jeff cut him off.

"Needed to what? How could you be _so_ careless? What if Virgil had needed help? What if the Hood sent someone and they saw you? Did you even _think _about that?" Jeff hissed.

"I did try to contact," Scott said but once again Jeff interrupted.

"It doesn't matter now. Go back to the island and make sure everything is set up for Virgil and Johns' return." Scott nodded blankly, still reeling from his father's words "and make sure to stay in contact this time." Jeff snapped before leaving the room, slamming the door on his exit.

The room was silent as Scott stood there, letting the words sink in. After a few minutes he ran a hand through his hair and left as well, trying to ignore the pit of guilt bubbling inside of him.

* * *

The sun was rising on Tracy Island and Brains was snoozing on the sofa when he was awoken by the sound of engines. Eyes flying open he saw a silver blur pass the living room window. Snatching his glasses up he ran to the hanger.

When he got there Scott was already out of Thunderbird 1 and making his way across to the entrance to the house. "Master Sc-Sc-Sc, Tracy? What is the situation?" Brains babbled following Scott's brisk pace down the corridor toward the control room.

"Hey Brains. Everyone is accounted for, John and Virge will be back sometime today hopefully, as soon as we can finalise the discharge papers." Scott said, careful not to make eye contact with the scientist. "I need the med-bay set up for two, but also see if you can get Tin Tin to set up their bedrooms. You know how us Tracys' hate being stuck anywhere." He finished, flashing Brains a brief smile before taking his seat at the control panel. "This is Thunderbird Base, please come in Thunderbird 5."

Brains watched as the eldest Tracy son sat at the console. "You okay Brains?" Scott asked, not looking up from the console.

"Yes Ma-ma-ma, Scott. I'll get the med-bay prepared." As he left Brains threw him another look, he was okay but he wasn't so sure about Scott.

* * *

Thunderbird 5 had been silent for hours but neither Alan nor Gordon felt like breaking it. So it was a mechanical beeping which interrupted followed by the tinny voice of the monitor "Incoming Transmission."

Alan flew out of his chair and skidded to a halt in front of the monitor, opening the communication system immediately. "This is Thunderbird Base, come in Thunderbird 5."

As the voice resounded in the space craft Alan heard Gordon run across to the console as well "This is Thunderbird 5. What is the situation base?" Alan said, smiling as he felt Gordons' hand tighten on his arm as he leant over Alans' shoulder.

"Screw the situation" Gordon said, "What about John and Virge, Scott?"

There was some crackling over the transmitter then "All present and accounted for, now I need..." but the remainder of Scotts sentence was lost as Alan and Gordon both gave whoops of joy.

"I freakin told you!" Alan shouted embracing his older brother. Both were still laughing as they sat back at the console. They could hear Scott chuckling lightly on the other side of the monitor.

"So how are they? What happened?" Gordon asked, pushing Alan out of the way.

There was more light chuckling followed by "I'll let you guys ask them yourselves. Dad has requested everyone back on the island for some r and r for the next two weeks, so set that tin can on autopilot and get your asses back down here."

End of Chapter 11

* * *

The next update should/might/could possibly be quicker – in all honesty my creative juices seem to be on overdrive at the moment so it will more than likely be a darn site quicker than the last one

Ciao peeps

RussianKat


	12. Chapter 12

Heya! I think this took less than a month…but me and counting never really got on so I'm not sure

But enjoy! And as always I don't own anything *sigh wistfully* but I can dream…

* * *

All Expenses Paid

Chapter 12

The island had been silent since Jeff had returned with both Virgil and John. The moment they had arrived John had been moved straight to the Med-Bay, whilst Virgil had followed silently behind his brother. Jeff had gone straight to his private study and hadn't been seen since.

Scott had watched them arrive. He had stood in the hanger as he saw John be pulled along on the med-cart with Jeff and Virgil hot on his tail. He had performed all the post-flight checks on Thunderbird 1 whilst they were busy in the house. He had stayed in the hanger for as long as he had a legitimate excuse to be there.

The sun had already set and the majority of the house was in darkness when he finally re-entered. He crept silently through the house conscious of his convalescing family hidden behind some of the doors. He could hear voices from the kitchen and cautiously looked around the corner before joining Alan and Gordon at the counter.

Stealing the milk from Gordon he took a seat opposite them. "Still not use to earth time aye?" he said, pouring the remainder of the milk in his glass.

Alan gave a small chuckle, nodding before taking the biscuit tin. "Yeah" Gordon began "It's nice to be back though, solid ground and all." Smiling, he stole the biscuit tin before Alan could get one. Placing his biscuit next to his milk before putting the tin back in the cupboard under the counter, smirking as he saw Alan glaring at him across the counter "How's John doing?" he asked, turning back to Scott.

The eldest of the three froze at the question, but he could feel the inquisitive stares of his brothers as he wrapped his hands around his milk. "I uh, I haven't actually seen him since they arrived," he forced his eyes down, not wanting to see his brothers' eyes "Figured he'd be resting and stuff you know?"

Tapping his biscuit on the counter Gordon threw a quick glance at Alan who looked as thoroughly confused as he felt "Yeah, but I'm sure he wouldn't have minded you checking in. I mean jeeze, you're his big brother."

Rubbing his hands together and taking a deep breath Scott finally looked up and sighed "I know I just…didn't," he finished with a whisper.

"Wait so where were you all afternoon?" Alan piped up turning bodily toward Scott who was once again staring intently at his milk, "I thought you were in with John."

Just as Scott was going to answer his brother a set of footsteps entered the kitchen, all three Tracys' turned to see Brains shuffling in. Quickly jumping up, he offered Brains his seat and bade them all 'good night' before making a swift exit, completely unaware of the worried glances following him.

* * *

He had been watching his brother for almost two hours. Virgil rubbed his eyes and yawned widely still watching John sleep. He knew he should be resting too but he couldn't shake the feeling that if he did look away he may lose him again; and that had hurt too much the first time. His ribs were still hurting and his head had been pounding since they left the hospital and he knew that bed rest was probably the wisest choice but he wouldn't leave him. Not this time.

* * *

It was the ringing of a phone which woke Jeff Tracy later that evening. He had various paperwork stuck to his face, a few lines of which had been smeared under a trail of drool. He blinked his eyes open and saw the full scotch bottle at the other end of the desk. Groaning he pulled himself up so that he was sitting straight in his chair.

Running a tired hand through his mussed up hair he began tidying the desk up and threw away the ruined papers. As he did though he found an over turned picture frame. Carefully he removed it from the pile of paper and a soft smile graced his haggard face as he remembered when it was taken.

_International Rescue had been operational for almost six months without incident. They had set up their place in the emergency services and were making the difference they had hoped to, even if it led to Alan sulking about 'being left out'. _

_It was one of the few times all the Tracys' were planet side as Brains had taken his first rotation on Thunderbird 5. They had been called to the site of an earthquake in Indonesia and were aiding the authorities with the search and rescue of the aftermath. _

_Jeff was orchestrating the rescue from the cockpit of Thunderbird 2, whilst Scott, John, Virgil and Scott were helping the ground crews. Virgil and Scott had been searching through the rubble of what had once been a school when the first after shock hit. _

_The world shook around them and what remained of the building fell before their eyes. Scott grabbed Virgil and pulled him to the ground throwing himself on top of his brothers' form. It had ended as quickly as it started. But when the world finally stopped trembling neither brother got to their feet._

_Gordon and John had been the other side of the city when the aftershock began and were outside when the buildings around them began to crumble. John had held Gordon as they both knelt on the ground, knuckles white with fear._

_When the world was still once more both got to their feet clapped each other on the back with nervous laughter before answering the insistent beep of their communicators. Upon hearing their brother's lack of response they had immediately made their way across the city only to the find the school as nothing more than a pile of bricks._

_Ignoring the percentages and probabilities running through his head John had run straight to the centre of the damage and began calling for his sibling, with Gordon quickly following suit. They searched through the rubble for almost an hour and both were growing more and more anxious to find their brothers'._

_It was Gordon who found them underneath a plywood panel and a lot of shattered concrete and debris. It had taken John, Gordon and almost fifteen other aid workers to get them out. When they did they were rushed straight to the closest hospital. _

_It took eighteen hours of surgery, twenty hours of waiting, a week of doctors and check-ups, and more than a few consoling calls to Alan before both were awake and ready to return to the island. They had been back only a couple of hours when the photo was taken._

_Scott and Virgil had both been confined to their beds since they had awoken in the hospital and both were antsy to escape the confines of their mattress and duvets. Upon being asked later that day they had both insisted it was the others' idea. Jeff still had his money on Scott. _

_Either way the next morning Jeff had come into the kitchen to find them both out cold on the kitchen counter. Virgils' head laying on Scotts shoulder and Scotts arm slung around his younger brother, holding him upright. Virgil was snuffling in his sleep and there were remnants of their midnight snack covering their faces. _

_Gordon, Alan and John were all standing opposite smirking and chuckling at their brothers' expense. Jeff had quickly taken out his phone and snapped the image. The picture had taken pride of place on his desk ever since. Immortalizing Scott and Virgils' slumped forms both covered in various junk foods using each other as pillows. Whilst John was laughing quietly his own arm around Alans' shoulders his hand creeping over his head fingers ruffling the hair as Alan grumbled trying to escape his brothers' grasp. Gordon could be seen skipping across the kitchen with a bag of flour which would act as an alarm call for the slumbering Tracys' about twenty seconds after the picture had been taken._

Jeff sighed. It was a nice picture, and it was a lot simpler than what they were faced with now. They could deal with natural disasters, irritating siblings and most things Mother Nature decided to throw at them. But this? A threat they couldn't see or feel coming.

It shook them. It turned the world upside down and rattled them around until they didn't know up from down. The first time they had almost lost Alan. The second had put himself John and Scott in mortal jeopardy. And this time it seemed only Gordon and Alan had escaped completely physically unscathed. But Jeff couldn't help but wonder about the next time, would any of them walk away unwounded?

He turned the picture back over, grabbed the scotch and turned off his phone. He needed to think.

* * *

Scott stood in the doorway to the Med-Bay. He could see Virgil fast asleep curled up in an armchair next to the bed. Scott smiled as he heard the soft wheeze of Virgils snores. "Hey." A raspy voice caught Scott's attention.

John was lying flat in the bed, his blue eyes squinting at Scott from the awkward angle "Little help?" his voice croaked as Scott slowly approached the bed. As gently as he could, Scott began re-arranging the pillows behind John and helped pull him into a sitting position.

"How you feeling?" Scott asked, unable to take his eyes off the multitude of bandages around Johns' chest.

Wincing John moved slightly before allowing himself to relax into the mountain of pillows surrounding him. "Not as bad as some of the electrical appliances that have been subjected to Alan," he quipped, his voice still quiet and hoarse.

Trying to hide the shake in his hands Scott quickly poured a glass of water and helped John take a few small sips. "Like a smoking scrap heap then?" he joked softly pulling the glass away.

John laughed but it quickly turned into a small coughing fit. He waved off Scott who immediately offered him the remainder of the water. Taking a few deep breaths John looked up at his brother "I think I can cough without assistance thanks." His tone was irritated and Scott couldn't help but recoil slightly as his brother relaxed once more.

"Sorry, I uh, I just thought that…" Scott sighed, looking at Johns' tired face "Sorry."

John wanted to apologize, he knew his family wanted help but he had never been one for being looked after. So he laid there in silence, allowing sleep to take him as he heard Scott shuffle out of the room.

* * *

Jeff hadn't touched the scotch. He had wanted to; he had even opened the bottle. But he couldn't drink it. He was on the terrace he had been on two days earlier, same seat, same view but he felt different. He still wanted to stop the Hood, he was still worried about his sons but there was something niggling in the back of his mind.

"Mr Tracy," Brains took the seat beside Jeff "Everything okay?"

"Why do we do it Brains?" Jeff asked turning to his old friend looking as weary as he felt.

Taken aback by the question Brains stared at Jeff, his brow creased "S-S-Sorry Sir?"

At this Jeff grabbed the bottle beside him and poured two glasses, passing one to Brains. Taking a swig of his Jeff clenched his teeth and hissed in a breath as it burnt his throat. "Why do we help people who will sell us out for nothing?"

"I don't think I understand?" Brains said, sipping at his drink, cringing at the taste.

"That girl at the office, Sarah or whatever her name was. She sold out my sons for a few drinks and a compliment. How is it that my sons had to pay for her stupid selfish mistake?" Jeff growled, downing the rest of his drink. Not giving Brains a chance to comment he continued "She's not the first though and she's not going to be the last. Brains we help people every day and not only as International Rescue. Tracy Industries supports so many things and we get nothing. No thank you, no help, just another kick in the teeth." Shaking he poured himself another glass.

"We help them because they n-need us," Brains said, looking away from Jeff "No one else can do what we do."

"Yeah well they're gonna have to learn to. I quit Brains," Jeff said, raising from his seat finishing his drink "As of tomorrow, there is no International Rescue."

* * *

End of Chapter 12

That's actually the happier of the two endings I was considering for this chapter…also the flashback is important for various to be confirmed reasons...

RussianKat


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